NEWS FLASH: HERZOG & DE MEURON FINALLY SET UP MODEM

Back in March I wrote an article on the sameness that all architectural websites seem to have, read it here. The first line reads;

"All architectural practices need a website to attract clients, show off their work and to give them a public face in this modern world of ours, unless you're Herzog and de Meuron that is."

Well since then Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, who are evidently great readers of our blog, have taken my advice and decided they want a public face in this modern world, and today launched their new website. They have also heeded my warning and decided to ensure that they're website does not follow the same old template as every other architecture practices website.

Imagination is Dead

There are two toys from my childhood which I enjoyed the most, which undoubtedly pushed me towards the career path I am on today, Lego and Meccano, yet terrible things are happening with these toys.

Though before I rant, first, a very brief history lesson about the two.

Two hours to kill in Liverpool

Due to my over cautiousness with time when booking connecting train tickets home from a flight into Liverpool I have found myself stuck in Liverpool south parkway waiting for a train for two hours with bugger all to do. This and the sudden drop in temperature from my last location have put me in a very bad mood. A bad mood that is being increased by a pet hate of mine in public buildings, piped music. So thanks to the free WiFi provided by Merseytravel, I'm too stingy to buy a mobile data package, I'm going to have a rant.


'Pause to gulp horrible boiling brown water the machine claimed to be coffee as the cafe is shut.'

Off-Beat-ness

You find me in a charitable mood. Now, regular readers (not there is any evidence that we have any) will know that charitable moods are rare among the writers of Archiendo - most of our posts to date can be categorized as either ironic, satirical commentary or straight forward, hard-line criticism.

Initially, I was going to go for the ironic, satirical commentary approach, using this building as an example. However, upon further inspection, I found myself rather liking the building, and felt rather guilty about using it for my own pessimistic gain. So, as I'm in a charitable mood, you're about to get two posts for the price of one.

The building, by the way, is the registry office of St Vicente in Madeira, by Duarte Caldeira. More details on Dezeen.

Just a Quickie...

Perhaps the most amusing thing I have discovered recently: Interior and Environmental design student Ruth Bowie's Thesis project, a huge complex dedicated to the promotion of healthy, safe and most importantly fun one night stands.

Obviously, I'm not going to do the whole moral outrage thing. Ironically, The Sun has taken that initiative already. In the interests of fair representation, Ruth's blog is here.